PWN Global Launches Past-Presidents Alumni Group

After the high of our inaugural awards event on Thursday 10th October, a select group of PWN Global volunteers and supporters breakfasted together on the Friday morning to have a collective brainstorm around the launch of an “Alumni” of PWN Global and City Network past Presidents. 

We realised some time ago that once our Presidents have stepped down, there was no structured way for them to stay closely connected either to the network or to each other.

For anyone who has ever worked tirelessly for a cause to which they are committed, you will understand that often, our sense of purpose and our very identity becomes intertwined with the role we have been performing. In many cases, after what can be upwards of four years of expending energy, intensively living and breathing PWN life, stepping down at the end of a presidential term can feel like a very hard loss. We want to create a space of gratitude and continued sharing for those members who have devoted a significant part of their life to our cause and want to continue doing so. 

Sonya Richardson, who recently stepped down as co-President of PWN Global with Rob Baker in June 2019 facilitated the breakfast.  Sonya herself understood the need after serving almost 6 years on the PWN Global Federation Board and although she is now inolved in exciting new projects, wanted to keep giving some of her energy to driving this initiative forward. 

The idea was to find ways to keep our Alumni connected to the City Networks (by supporting new Presidents as they step in),  to the members (by joining our International Mentoring project as senior level mentors) and our partners (as potential speakers and other ways yet to be defined).  

There is definitely an appetite to stay connected and actively continue to share and support PWN around the world. We look forward to seeing what this incredibly talented and generous group creates as the Alumni group comes together. 

Finally, one last little detail, we are not sure about the Alumni name so if you can think of a good name that correctly encapsulates what we want to do please share it with us and send an email to contact@pwnglobal.net.

Created by: Karin Trivière, Head of Membership Experience, PWN Global

Edited by: Rebecca Fountain, Head of Marketing and Communications, PWN Global

Date: October 2019